We commonly go out now in winds up to 20-22 kts. We use our tramps a lot, but mainly just so the dog has a good place to sit. When the wind is up to around 20 we have tended to roll up the tramps before ever leaving the beach. We have found the windward tramp catches air under it, and the leeward tramp gets swamped by being submerged and delays the recovery. So if we are sailing in 20 knots, it's reef the main and furl the tramps.

We haven't been out in 20+ since we installed Bob's spray shields. Which La Gringa absolutely loves, by the way. It's cut down on my wet t-shirt views from the back seat, but that's okay if she's happy.

But we don't yet know how the boat would perform with just the shields out and the tramps rolled up.

A disadvantage I didn't realize until getting my tramps is most of the time I cannot deploy both until I'm underway. If I'm sailing solo, it's often impossible to launch the boat from the back seat. Since you're so far aft, the front of the boat will swing around back to shore depending on currents and wind. Therefore, you must launch the boat standing more towards the front to keep this from happening. Once underway, it's a slight pain, but with a little effort you can deploy the one tramp you left rolled up to hop into the front seat.

We haven't had any buckles break yet ( touch wood) but I've been thinking about what happens when we do. UV is fierce here. Plastics just don't last forever.

Has anyone just put a line of maybe a half dozen brass grommets down the back of a tramp, and used paracord to lace it to the aka? Might take a few minutes but man could you put some torque on it. Could stetch it tight as a drum. Wonder why Hobie went with the buckles? Ours are actually kind of difficult to get tight with just fingers. Pliers work well to pull the straps tight, though.

I also broke quite a few buckles and with time I noticed that the tramps are stretching, to fix the problem I cut one of those foam pool noodle in two and duck tape them on the rear akas. First it took the extra slack off the the streched tramps. Second now the buckles rest on the foam not the metal of the akas so its harder to break them , so far so good I didn't break any since I installed the foam noodles and last when you sit on the rear aka you have that extra padding.

A general drawback of the tramps is that on land or on the water, once they are deployed it is difficult to reach the drive, rudder up down lines and other other stuff while prepping the boat. And my arms are quite long.

Basically, you need to set up the tramps last, cuz access to the cockpit is greatly impaired.

This is my first summer with my TI on Lake Huron, near Lexington, Michigan. I absolutely love it. The tramps are a "must have" as they provide the swim platform for my little kids and all their cousins. Paddling out to the "deep water" is a big attraction for them as they swim around (with PFDs).

But - they do catch the wind. My TI got flipped yesterday in a nasty wind and broke my mast and a few other parts. Jay, from Backyard Boats is tallying up the damages ($$), but I expect it to be ugly. I'm hoping (and a bit of praying) that my homeowner's insurance will help.

My lesson: Never leave the boat on the beach with the tramps unfurled. It only takes a few minutes to roll them up and stow them properly. I think I'll also be pulling the mast out more frequently as well.

Here are some photos of the expensive carnage:View of the beach - take a look at my destroyed beach canopy!! The RH aka/ama assembly broke clean off and was found 300 yards down the beach!!. I think we were hit by a tiny tornado, actually. The sirens were blaring at the time.Broken mast!!!

Sailing my Adventure Island for 5 years now, Love it, much more fun then 25' sailboat. Anyway this is my first year with tramps. Great for hauling extra gear when I was up in Canada sailing on the Lake-In-The-Woods, island hoping. I'm just finishing up sailing on Big Manistique Lake in the U.P. of Michigan. I have had the tramps on everyday for the last 6 weeks, I find that with the tramps they help keep me from getting splashed as much as when I didn't have them. Today the wind started at 10 to 15 mph by the time I finished the wind was up to 20mph. The tramps did not in my opinion catch the wind at all. Glad I bought them!

I wish that Hobie would sell a half-wide tramp for owners who are worried about the tramps catching the wind but still want tramps.If I solo-sail, I usually sit alongside the gunnel on the tramp. If someone is with...a half width tramp would still allow them to stretch out and help balance the TI. But I suppose Hobie wouldn't waste their time to sell a more specialty item. I have decided that if I accidentally tear one of my tramps...I am going to resew it to half width and see how it handles.

I have split one Hobie Tramp into two, and am considering splitting the other before we sell our industrial sewing machine. They work well, but I do like my fishing 1/2 tramp home-made with wind surf masts better. I may consider selling them if anyone is interested.